Notable Quotables - 01/26/1998

Published: 1/26/1998 2:00 AM ET

Eleanor: Angling
for a White House Internship

"Well, he's been elected twice with
people knowing he has had affairs. Now is the fact that this woman is 21. I
mean, she's still of age, I suppose. You know, I think that the distaste
that people may feel for this will also be because of the fact that the
probing into this persons private life has occurred. I think past
Presidents, Lyndon Johnson for one, certainly Jack Kennedy, these things went
on, you know, libido and leadership are linked." Eleanor Clift
reacting to charges the President had sexual relations with White House intern
Monica Lewinsky, live MSNBC coverage at about 5pm ET, January 21.

How Do You Like Me
Now?

Charles Gibson: "You know you're going
to be spied upon all the time, but should he have been?"Lisa McRee: "Of course not. But I can
tell you I like him a little better knowing he dances with his wife on the
beach on vacation." Exchange between ABC Good Morning America
co-hosts on Agence France-Presse shot of the Clintons dancing in bathing suits
in the Virgin Islands, January 6.

Extremism Takes
Its Toll & Republicans, Not Dems, Hurt by Abortion

"There has been intimidation, some of it
violent, at clinics all over the country and the effect has been apparent.
When the Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, the number of abortions
went up, until in 1988 more than a million and a half women had legal
abortions. But with all this pressure on the clinics [video of bodies being
covered by blankets and put onto stretchers], five people have been killed and
others wounded during these campaigns to close the clinics down, it has made a
difference. While it is still the law and women do have a constitutional right
to have an abortion, still in some places it is almost as difficult to get an
abortion today as it was before Roe vs. Wade." Peter Jennings,
January 16 World News Tonight.

Peter Jennings: "The Republican Party has
tied itself in knots over this question of late-term abortion. What's
happening?"Cokie Roberts: "It's already a problem
for the party. There was a primary election in California this week where the
candidate who opposed partial-birth abortion won over the establishment
candidate of the Republican Party. So this is a tough one and Democrats are
thrilled the Republicans are fighting because its even a tougher one for
them."Jennings: "Cokie, you've covered all
the ground I wanted to, thank you very much." Same show.

The Pope and El
Jefe: Ideological Bosom Buddies?

"The Cuban President is, by his own
account, no dogmatic anti- religionist....Likewise, the Pope is by no means a
capitalist tool...." Religious News Service reporter Ira Rifkin
writing a January 10 Washington Post article headlined "Castro and
the Pope: Opponents with Shared Values, While Differing on Religion, Both
Embrace Altruism and Reject Unbridled Capitalism."

More Hyannisport
Hagiography

"But the scandals and headlines have
focused on the stumblings of relatively few of the younger Kennedys, and they
have tended to mask the accomplishments and quietly productive lives of others
...the scandals and problems of some Kennedys are hardly the whole story of
the third generation, whose members by and large are hard-working,
civic-minded and upstanding. Even some who have been stained by drug and other
problems have emerged as productive citizens and effective leaders, in and out
of politics."New York Times reporter Robert D. McFadden,
January 2.

Clinton's Heroic
Spending Plans

"Medicare, the health care program that
has been a godsend to the elderly in this country, even with all its financial
difficulties. Tonight the President wants to dramatically expand its coverage
to millions more." NBC's Tom Brokaw, January 6 Nightly News.

Stop Us Before We
Investigate Clinton

"Brian Ross, the ABC person in there,
according to this New York Times story, both went to this fellow and
interviewed him and then took him to the Justice Department to lodge his
complaint in order to get an independent counsel, then went on the air, with
an exclusive story and I thought, I saw his account on ABC, I thought in a
very prosecutorial manner reported this thing. I think that raises certain
questions, if a reporter actually brings about an investigation himself, goes
to the Justice Department, takes the complaint and then goes on the air and
has an exclusive story. I think it raises a question of whether he's
personally involved in it, and whether he should have done that."Los
Angeles Times reporter Jack Nelson on businessman Laurent Yene's charges
against Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, C-SPAN's Washington Journal,
January 16.

Hottest Year: Cold
to Facts

"Well, from there we go to one long-term
note about weather trends. 1997 was actually the warmest year since scientists
began keeping records. The average temperature was 62.45, that's about
one-tenth of a degree warmer than the next hottest year, which was 1990. Nine
of the warmest years this century have occurred in the last 11 years." Peter Jennings, January 8 World News Tonight.

"As if El Nino isnt enough, the U.S.
government oceanic and atmospheric experts confirmed today 1997 was the
warmest year ever recorded on Earth." Dan Rather, January 8 CBS
Evening News.

"Drought plaguing Africa, brush fires
raging in Australia, Pacific water heating California. 1997 seemed hot. Now
the hard evidence. Temperatures compiled from buoys, satellites and weather
stations confirm that. Today the government's best climatologists, experts
with no agenda to influence debate on public warming, had dramatic news.
Worldwide, 1997 was the hottest year of this century. A trend, says the
government's chief keeper of weather records, Tom Karl." Robert
Hager, January 8 NBC Nightly News.

Reality Check:

"Temperature readings taken from U.S.
Weather satellites, the most reliable and only global temperature data
available, put 1997 among the coolest years since satellite-based measurements
began in 1979. With December readings finally in, the year ranked 7 out of 19,
with 1 being the coldest....Satellite readings continued to show the slight
downward trend seen over the past two decades, in contrast to ground-based
data, which are strongly affected by the so-called 'urban heat-island'
effect..." January 8 press release from the Science &
Environmental Policy Project.

Our New
Entitlement: Subsidized Classical CD's for Every Infant

"Finally from us this evening, the
Governor who gets it. We've known for a long time that the Governor of
Georgia, Zell Miller, is committed to a better education for kids.....This was
part of his budget message to the Georgia legislature this week. The Governor
was playing a bit of Beethoven there by way of convincing legislators to pay
for a music CD for every Georgia baby so that babies could hear classical
music from the very beginning....He is so right and every study confirms
it....Give a child music and you get a better, brighter child." Peter
Jennings, January 14 World News Tonight.

Trees as "Victims"

"In Northern New England, where an ice
storm has brought a week of misery to millions of people, and theres more
on the way, a giant Noreaster that could dump a lot of snow on top of the
already devastating layer of ice, ice that has claimed millions of other
victims."NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw introducing a
story on how the ice storm killed maple syrup trees in Maine.

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.